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But it's not a surprise when "wondrous
things happen," says UVic's Dyke.
Gustavson's voluntary program,
available to both BCom and
MBA stu-
dents, is less structured than its counter-
parts at other schools; both
UBC's Sauder
School of Business and
SFU's Beedie
School of Business have more formal
streams where students officially enrol.
But keeping the program relatively
casual has been key to allowing the right
relationships to form, according to Dyke.
"The whole intention is to give the
MBAs, in particular, a foot-up into the
business community and provide some
support from somebody who isn't
scripted by the school," says Dyke, add-
ing that it's up to students and mentors to
figure out how—and how often—to meet.
Victoria's popularity with late-career
or retired professionals, as well as its
burgeoning status as a base for business
people who work internationally but
enjoy the capital's relaxed atmosphere
and mild climate, makes it a font of busi-
ness acumen, according to Dyke, who
has a roster of about 300 mentors and
says he rarely gets turned down when
looking for volunteers. That makes it
easy to find the right blend of personality
and skill in instances where he needs to
be a more involved matchmaker: "I get
a feel for the student. Does this student
need their confidence built or does this
student need to be challenged?"
With a range of experience in any
given cohort—about 80 per cent of
MBAs
and 30 per cent of BComs will enter
the mentoring program—students may
need help with anything from English to
resumé writing to figuring out if business
school is even the right place for them.
Others, like Tavakkol, are much fur-
ther along the spectrum. In his case,
doing an
MBA at Gustavson was less
about learning business fundamentals
than gaining international business
experience. Having already headed his
own company in Iran, and with a good
chunk of what would become Limespot
in development before arriving in North
America, Tavakkol was looking for help
in navigating the legalities of corporate
Canada and the ear of "someone who
knows how the world works."
Without even trying, he found it in
that first encounter. "Basically, Paul was
that exact person."
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march 2015 BCBusiness 61
